West Virginia Was Never a Colony: It Became a State in 1863 During the Civil War

West Virginia was never a colony.

It was part of the state of Virginia from 1788 until June 20, 1863, when it was admitted to the Union as the 35th state following the Wheeling Conventions and a referendum by Unionist counties in northwestern Virginia who refused to secede with the Confederacy.

Its creation was a direct result of the Civil War, not colonial founding.